This year, after celebrating an explosively powerful and beautiful Pascha with my wife and church family, I have continued to spend time in reading and reflection.
The ancient desert fathers taught that the only way to know God is to dive into our hearts and know our own selves first. This inward journey is full of darkness and beauty, and it is one that is necessary if we want to see freedom from the passions and deepening inward growth toward God. We must know ourselves.
There is a hymn in the Orthodox Church called the Trisagion Hymn. Below is an Orthodox priest and part of his congregation singing it in Aramaic(the ancient language that Jesus and his apostles spoke):
The words are, “Qadisha Alaha Qadisha Khaylthana Qadisha La Mayotha” (Holy God, Holy Almighty, Holy Immortal). The priest is Mama Serafime (‘mama’ means ‘father’ in Georgian). He heads an Assyrian Eastern Orthodox community in Georgia
May this song be an oasis of beauty for you as you travel through the journey on which God is leading you today.
Incredibly inspiring…..